Food Trucks Off City Council's Menu | Patch PM

MASSACHUSETTS — It's Thursday, March 4. Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• The Red Sox are stealing home. Baseball will soon return to Fenway — and that means the mass vaccination site is finding a new location in Boston.
• The push to help people get vaccinated is getting some local help from Somerville.
• The Boston boyhood home of Malcolm X is getting some historic recognition.

Scroll down for those and other stories Patch has been covering in Massachusetts today.

Wednesday’s Top Story

A provider of food trucks withdrew its application for a PTO fundraiser after facing criticism from the Medford City Council. Food Truck Ventures, founder of the Neighborhood StrEATS program that helps PTOs fundraise during the COVID-19 pandemic, had sought two food trucks for a March 3 event at Andrews Middle School.

At a Feb. 23 City Council meeting, several councilors were blunt in their disdain for using food trucks to raise money for the school. Councilor Adam Knight accused Food Truck Ventures of price gouging – the provider acknowledged the price of menu items were raised 16 percent, but founder Anne-Marie Aigner said it was necessary to offset operating costs for the trucks – and for using the event as a "data mining initiative."

Knight said he was concerned Food Truck Ventures would "use people's personal information, emails and the like to start a marketing campaign," motioning to prohibit the company from collecting people's personal data.

Read more here.

Nearby News

• Somerville Couple Rallies Volunteers To Secure Vaccine Slots: Massachusetts COVID Vaccine Help has nearly 250 volunteers helping eligible patients make vaccine appointments.
• Winning $150K Powerball Ticket Sold In Medford: There was no $138 million jackpot winner, but one ticket sold in Medford took home six figures.
• Malden Resident Named 2021 Black Excellence On The Hill Honoree: Birukti Tsige, a 2019 graduate of Malden High School, advocated for racial justice in schools and founded the Malden Youth Civic Council.

Today’s Other Top Stories In Massachusetts

Squeeze play: Gov. Charlie Baker announced Thursday the mass vaccination site will be on the move as baseball season ramps up. The mass vaccination site is moving to the Hynes Convention Center, which will begin administering shots March 18. Fenway will continue its vaccination efforts until March 27, four days before Opening Day. More than 25,000 vaccinations have been administered at Fenway. That number is expected to be doubled before the move.

Sex abuse allegations investigated — An Essex County grand jury will look into allegations of sex abuse at Peabody Memorial High School beginning in 1999 and continuing after the victim graduated in 2003. The victim has sued the city of Peabody and the teachers involved in federal court. The former student, who is identified as John Doe in court documents, claims he was given drugs and alcohol and sexually abused by Lynette Occhipinti, a former educational assistant at the school, starting when he was a freshman at the school in 1999.

Scammers pay up — A Melrose couple will pay $145,000 for their part in a plot that scammed elderly residents for tech support they didn't need. In a settlement announced Thursday by Attorney General Maura Healey's office, Shalu and Vishal Chawla also agreed to never again run tech support companies. Shalu Chawla owned VTech Software Solution and Techmate, Inc. His wife assisted in both companies' affairs.

Cape Coast Guard comes through — A U.S. Coast Guard crew from Cape Cod helped rescue 31 Canadian fishermen from a vessel that caught fire and sank about 130 miles off the Nova Scotia coast. The 143-foot Atlantic Destiny caught fire Tuesday night and began taking on water in high winds and rough seas, Coast Guard officials said.

They Said It

"The process was complicated and stressful, and it led me to look into what it looked like in Massachusetts."
— Somerville resident Diana Rastegayeva, who is organizing volunteers to help eligible Massachusetts residents secure COVID-19 vaccine appointments.

By The Numbers

1874 — That's when Malcolm X's boyhood Boston home was originally built. The house where the civil rights leader grew up was just added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Other local stories

• Worcester OKs Polar Park Liquor, Entertainment Licenses
• Burlington Police Report Dozens Of Car Breaks In Single Night
• Belmont Police Investigate Fatal Box Truck Rollover